


Arguments

by lee_likes



Category: Marvel
Genre: Gen, Growing Up Together, alternative universe, kid!adam warlock, kid!thanos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 03:57:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21293258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lee_likes/pseuds/lee_likes
Summary: Thanos had always been a lonely child, not getting along with others, convinced he was a monster who would never find a connection with someone else.That all changed when he met Adam.
Relationships: Thanos & Adam Warlock
Comments: 11
Kudos: 7





	Arguments

Sui-San had gotten used to the arguments between Thanos and Alars by now, but lately they had taken a turn for the worse.

The tone had changed to a more heated one and they had started to happen more and more often, Sui-San had always tried her best to calm the situation down but even that had little effect these days. Once the two started there was no stopping them.

After every fight Sui-San tried to talk some sense into Alars, who always felt incredibly guilty afterwards, but every time he tried to apologise to Thanos it would either result in another argument or Thanos leaving, the apology ringing to deaf ears.

She also tried to spend as much time with Thanos as she could, being understanding and listening to him when he needed it, validating what he was feeling and encouraging him to talk with Alars too, telling him what he told her, but there seemed to be a consistent problem of miscommunication between them, words being twisted and intentions misunderstood. Thanos clearly needed a stable relationship with his father, but every attempt seemed to drive them further apart. Most of the time they were very civil towards each other, getting along fine, but even that had started to feel more and more strained lately, words getting more curt, tones more spiteful. It had gotten to the point where Thanos had started to avoid Alars altogether.

That's why Sui-San was very thankful for Adam. 

They had uncovered a secret organisation, the Beehive, that tried to engineer a super soldier, a genetically perfected warrior to use as their pawn in their domination of the universe. There had been few failed tries where their experiments had started to rebel, they had too much free will so the Beehive had destroyed them with no remorse and started anew. They had changed their tactic and this new subject was to be brought up from a very young child so they had time to indoctrinate him, mold him into an unquestioning servant for a 'greater cause'. 

Thankfully Sui-San and Alars, with the help of fellow Titans, had been able to destroy the base and save that young boy, adopting him and naming him Adam. He was to be brought upon Titan with love and care, far away from the corruption of the universe.

When Adam had been brought in Thanos' reaction had been far from kind. He had seen Adam as another perfect son for Alars, beautiful and human, just like the rest of the Titans, clearly smart and capable due to his genetic background and no doubt akin to Eros more than Thanos. That's why Thanos had been avoiding him from the start, not talking to him apart form curt answers when spoken to and withdrawing from Adam's company whenever he could.

Even though Thanos had never been outright bullied, he had always been an outsider. He felt like his deviant mutation made him fundamentally different from everyone else and therefore he isolated himself from his peers and spent a lot of time by himself. He also tended to disappear during the nights and neither Sui-San nor Alars knew where he went. This was also one of the subjects of arguments, Alars was worried what Thanos was up to, but Thanos refused to share this, even with his parents.

Thankfully Adam had changed everything. After a while Thanos started to notice how withdrawn and timid Adam tended to be, how he was always wrapping himself in that ratty red blanket he had clung on to after he was rescued and now refused to take off. Even though he was liked and got along with everyone else just fine, he still kept to himself and sometimes just seemed to dream himself through the day. Thanos had soon become curious, he wasn't at all what Thanos had expected and he soon noticed how he seemed to have more in common with Thanos rather than his brother. 

Adam noticed this as well and they just naturally gravitated towards each other, neither of them really initiating it or taking the first step but just ending up spending more and more time with each other and even though Thanos tended to be a bit cold and terse, not really knowing how to handle this new relationship, Adam didn't seem to mind. 

What seemed to be the turning point in their friendship was when Thanos made a remark about Adam's makeshift cape getting short and showing his shins. The morning after that, without an explanation, there was a red cape resting on the foot of Adam's bed. It was thick, warm fabric and it had a high collar and a proper clasp so it stayed up without Adam having to tie it in the front. Thanos never admitted to making it, but they both knew where it had come from and Adam was thankful.

Sadly even the friendship between Adam and Thanos hadn't helped when it came to the tense relationship Thanos had with his father.

It was Thanos' birthday and they were celebrating it over dinner, a small event since Thanos didn't want to invite anyone else. There was only his mother and father and Adam, as well as his little brother Eros, sitting around the table that was set with all of Thanos' favourite dishes. It had been a quiet event with polite conversation, but the tension that had been building between Thanos and Alars over the last few weeks was released with an offhand comment when Alars suggested Thanos should partake more in the activities of his peers with Eros.

Thanos had taken the innocent comment as yet another comparison between him and his brother, the perfect son who could never do wrong.

It escalated soon and the dinner was soon forgotten.

“It would do you good to get out of your room other than sneaking out during the night and doing Kronos knows what,” Alars sounded tired to begin with.

“It's none of your business where I go, I'm old enough to go as I please!” Thanos rose up from the table slamming his tiny fists on it in anger, yelling already.

“And the moment I mention anything you throw a tantrum! I am your father and I'm only worried about your well being,” Alars tried to calm Thanos down, clearly frustrated “I need to know where you go and what you do.”

“You're not the boss of me,” Thanos said under his breath, sitting down and and crossing his arms defiantly.

Alars's shoulders sagged and he raised his hands to his face. “Why can't you just learn from your younger brother?”

Eros took this as his queue to leave the scene with a chipper 'Thanks for the food!' He felt the oncoming storm and preferred not to stay in the way of it.

Sui-San rose up and walked to her husband, but when she tried to touch his shoulder he shrugged the hand off. Before Alars could get another word in Thanos spoke up.

“Oh yeah, perfect Eros, father's favourite with great social life and average grades,” The bitterness in his voice was obvious.

“I just don't know what to do with you, you always make everything so difficult.”

“You make everything difficult!” Thanos no doubt realised how petulant he was being but that didn't seem to stop him.

“Don't raise your voice at me, we can have this discussion in a civil manner.”

“I yell if i want, you can't stop me!”

“Thanos you're acting like a child...”

“I AM A CHILD!”

Alars sighed. “You know what i mean. Eros is always so calm...”

“Eros this, Eros that, I AM NOT HIM!”

“Maybe if you made an effort to be!”

“Darling...” Sui-San intercepted and turned Alars' head to her and gave him a pleading look.

“He's just impossible, you can't reason with him at all.”

Thanos jumped at this. “Maybe I can't reason with you!” Without a warning he got up and ran out of the dining hall in a storm.

“Come back Thanos, I did not teach you to run away from your problems!” Alar's words echoed through the corridor, but Thanos didn't look back.

He ran past Adam who had left the room the moment the argument had started and was now sitting outside the dining hall with his back against a wall.

He let Thanos run past him and then slowly stood up, straightening his cape and raising the collar up. There was no need to run after him, Adam knew exactly where he was heading. It would be best to give him a few minutes alone.

Adam walked through the corridors, wrapping himself tightly in his cape, furrowing his tiny brow. He hated hearing Thanos and Alars fight, but he hated how withdrawn Thanos became afterwards even more.

The great doors opened to the garden and Adam headed to the back of it and straight to a tall stone fence. Hidden beneath the vines that were crawling up the stones was a small opening Adam crawled through and rose up to a familiar narrow space between the fence and a stone wall. The vines grew over the top offering shade and privacy.

Thanos was sitting with his back against the wall, hugging his knees and hiding his face in his knees.

“I'm not crying,” Adam heard a muffled voice say. He took it as an invitation and walked in front of Thanos, kneeling down.

He carefully reached for Thanos' face and gently lifted his head up. He wrapped a corner of his cape in his hand and wiped Thanos' face dry. Thanos turned his head away from Adam and they fell into silence.

Adam maneuvered himself to sit next to Thanos and leaned over to rest his head on Thanos's shoulder.

“I cry sometimes when I can't sleep at night.”

Thanos turned his head to look at Adam who had his head turned up to peer at the passing clouds through the vines.

“I'm not staying here. The moment I'm old enough I'm leaving,” Thanos stated and looked away again.

They sat there in silence, Adam gazing up at the sky and Thanos inspecting his feet.

When night started falling the air started getting colder so Adam rose up and grabbed Thanos' hand to pull him up too. The silence continued as they crawled through the hole in the fence and slowly made their way inside and up to their rooms.

Adam wished Thanos a good night and Thanos just grunted in reply and disappeared through his door.

***

From that day forward, come night, Thanos would always find a reason to visit Adam's room during the night. Sometimes he was inspecting the thermostat that wasn't functioning properly (it was) or investigating I.S.A.A.C's claims of loose rodents (there weren't any) or even inspecting the roof structure, telling Adam he had heard some concerning sounds from up there that needed immediate checking (Adam had never heard anything).

After a few weeks Thanos stopped coming up with reasons and just came by to sit with Adam until they both fell asleep.

Adam never cried at night after that.

***

It had been ten years and the arguments had gotten out of hand. Adam could hear the heated debate through the door and he quickly entered, dread filling his chest, worried how far they might go this time.

Thanos and Alars were facing each other, stances wide and threatening, Thanos had his mouth open in a snarl and his eyes were fiery red. A really bad sign.

“I understood your unruliness as a child, but you're a young adult now, it's time for you to grow up,” Alars wasn't yelling but it sounded like he wasn't very far from it.

“Perhaps your need for control and your inability to perceive anything outside of your own comfortable bubble is the act of a child and it would finally be time for you to grow up in your twilight years.”

Sui-San was yet again standing next to her husband, looking lost and shooting Adam a pleading look as he entered. Adam took the cue and walked slowly to Thanos and placed his hand on his upper arm and squeezed slightly. Thanos yanked his arm away.

“Your outbursts are getting more and more ridiculous and you're completely unable to take any form of criticism. You need to learn control and to take responsibility for your actions.”

“Darling, you shouldn't...” Sui-San stepped in front of Alars, but she didn't get to finish when Thanos interjected.

“Shouldn't what? Control his son's every move and action?” Thanos spat out the word 'son' like it was poison. “Shouldn't spy on everything he does and meddle in business that does not concern him?”

Adam mirrored Sui-San and stepped in front of Thanos, raising his hand to rest on Thanos' chest. Thanos didn't shrug his hand off but it also had no effect.

“Why do you think your brother never causes any trouble? Because he can conduct himself in an adult manner! He has no trouble acting civilly in company and keeping his temper in check, by Kronos he doesn't even have a temper!”

Their arguments always ended here. Where Alars considered it as an encouragement to spend more time with his brother, and to maybe adopt Eros' more relaxed attitude, to Thanos the constant comparison between him and his brother was a reminder he didn't turn out at all like Alars would have wanted him to.

“Ah yes, Eros who has no faults, only if you knew the mischief that goes on behind your back. Did you ever consider his popularity might have more to do with his ability to manipulate people's feelings? How can you be sure he isn't manipulating you in the same way?”

Thanos and Alars both knew this to not to be true, at least not after Eros' childhood times when he used it to get out of trouble. Maybe that was one of the reasons Alars had such a positive view of Eros. But planting that seed in Alars' mind might cause some friction between them in the future if doubt took hold. Thanos was not above dirty tricks.

Adam flew up to face Thanos, not saying a word, just looking at him in the eyes with his brow furrowed in what he hoped was a warning. Thanos stared at Adam defiantly, but eventually averted his gaze and pushed Adam aside.

Alars and Sui-San observed this, both knowing Adam was the only person who could calm Thanos down.

“Maybe you hold Eros in such a high regard because you choose to ignore the bad behaviour he exhibits.”

“You know I respect and love both of you equally...”

Thanos snorted. Alars ignored it and continued. 

“I know nothing of what goes on in your head and you refuse to share anything, how am I supposed to understand when you refuse to be understood?” Alars looked sad and forlorn when he locked eyes with Thanos, “At least tell me where you disappear at nights, even I.S.A.A.C can't seem to track you...”

Thanos' eyes sparked red and Adam flew up again trying to turn Thanos away from Alars completely. It had no effect and Adam felt the energy that emanated from Thanos and it made the hairs on his neck stand up.

“SO YOU HAVE BEEN SPYING ON ME, YOU WOULD SO INVADE MY PRIVACY WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE AND THEN YOU DEMAND ME TO ACT LIKE AN ADULT?” Thanos' voice boomed in the room and Adam could feel it reverberate in his chest. It would have made almost anyone flee.

“I am worried about you, I can't have a conversation with you without you raising your voice.” It sounded like Alars wasn't far off from doing the same.

“And did you consider asking me? To show interest in what I do without going behind my back?”

“That is the problem here, Thanos! I have tried so many times, but you keep being secretive, not telling me anything. Eros shares things so easily...”

“I AM NOT EROS!” Thanos' eyes flashed again, “I AM NOTHING LIKE EROS!”

“Control your temper! You behave like a wild beast!” 

“I may behave like a wild beast, but you're the one who fathered it,” Thanos said through gritted teeth, his snarl widening, showing his sharp canines.

“Thanos...”

“You look down from your high horse and expect to see yourself reflected in the faces of your people. But I'm not one of them, I am not like you. I'm not like any of them! I was set apart the moment i was born.”

“You're my son Thanos, you're just like anyone else on Titan. You're not different, you're not the monster you think yourself as.”

Thanos' entire demeanor changed at this. His eyes cooled to a deep black and he straightened his back and his expression became indifferent.

“No, I'm just a wild beast.”

“That is not what i meant! I've been trying to understand and listen to you.”

“And what a wonderful job you have done. We're done here,” Thanos turned around and started walking towards the door, leaving his family behind him.

“Do not turn your back on me yet again Thanos, you can't keep running away from your problems like a coward.”

Thanos doesn't turn around and they can all hear the coldness in his voice.

“A beast and a coward, how proud you must be.”

Alars tried to call behind Thanos, to come up with the words to apologise but Thanos walked out calmly and disappeared in to the corridors.

“Adam, dear...” Sui-San didn't need to finish that sentence, Adam had already turned to go after Thanos. He walked slow enough to give Thanos a head start to cool himself off, it's not like Adam would have hard time finding him.

He walked the familiar corridors, gazing up at the statues of powerful figures, Eternals and Titans alike, lining the walls, reminding him of the greatness and kindness they were all capable of. Alars would never see it but Thanos really wasn't one of them.

It had already started to get dark, the sky was clear and Adam could see the first artificial stars light up the artificial sky. It didn't use to bother Adam but the older he got the more he started to feel the call of the real stars, he wasn't one of the Titans either and just like Thanos, didn't belong here.

He walked the familiar path through the garden, heading for the sturdy stone fence covered in thick, dark green vines. Adam and Thanos had both outgrown the secret passage in the fence years ago, but it mattered little when Thanos could easily pull himself up the wall using the vines as leverage. He used to pull Adam up there too, but it had become pointless once Adam learned to fly.

Levitating over the hedge and carefully descending through the vines, he landed behind Thanos who was standing in front of the wall, with his palms pressed against the cold stone leaning heavily on them with his head and shoulders sagged. There was a dent in the wall that looked suspiciously like it was made by a fist.

Thanos didn't seem to acknowledge his presence in any way, so Adam walked towards him and ducked under one of Thanos' arms, standing between him and the wall, facing him. 

“I wasn't crying.”

He wrapped a corner of his cape in his hand and dried Thanos's face.

Thanos turned his back to the wall and slid down to sit on the ground, Adam followed suite and leaned his head on the familiar spot on Thanos' shoulder.

“I'm leaving tonight.”

Adam had waited for this for a while now, Thanos had talked about it frequently over the last few years, he had talked about his plan in great detail, told him about the spaceship he was building in hiding and the possible potential planets that could be used as hideouts, about the technology he had invented that he wanted to finesse in peace. Adam instinctively knew this was something he could not get away with while on Titan, as his father would see his inventions as suspicious at best. 

Adam also knew Thanos leaving was something Sui-San and Alars were expecting as well.

“There's nothing to keep me here anymore.” Thanos said after a brief silence, not looking at Adam, waiting for his reaction.

Adam hummed and looked up through the vines at the false twinkling stars, “There's nothing here for me either.”

Thanos let out a breath he wasn't holding.

“The stars have been calling to me and it's getting hard to ignore it. As wonderful as Titan is and as kind as the people have been for adopting me as one of their own, my future is not here.”

The offering of leaving with Thanos had never been outright discussed, Adam got the impression Thanos had always assumed Adam would leave with him, but he hadn't had a confirmation until now. If there was one thing Thanos was bad at, it was admitting he had feelings other than anger.

“We're leaving after night falls. I have programmed I.S.A.A.C to not inform my father so we should be able to leave in peace. You have an hour to pack.”

“I've already done that.”

Thanos looked at Adam with surprise. He returned his face in a neutral expression before answering, “Good, meet me here in an hour.”

Thanos got up and hoisted himself over the fence, disappearing into the darkening night. Adam sat there for a while, eyes closed, listening to the familiar sounds of the garden and the surrounding city, feeling the cold stone wall behind him with all the familiar cracks and dips under the back of his head. This was the only thing he would really miss.

***

Thanos was already waiting on the garden path when Adam arrived with his backpack. He wasn't carrying anything so Adam figured he had packed their mode of transportation a while ago.

Wordlessly Thanos turned around to lead them both out of the garden and into the calm, dimly lit streets and past houses and buildings Adam had grown very accustomed to. There were still many people around, the nights on Titan were warm and safe and many people were drawn out to admire the nightly view of the city that was bathed in warm lights and the twinkling of the artificial stars. They were programmed to correspond to the real star charts outside of Titan, but they still weren't the same and both Thanos and Adam hated them.

They soon left the populated areas and headed for the woods Thanos had taken the habit to disappear into ever since he was a child, as close as they were Adam had never felt like he was welcome to follow. Nor did he mind that. 

The forest kept getting thicker and darker and when the starlight could not pierce through the foliage anymore Thanos let out a few glowing orbs that levitated above them, lighting their path. They kept walking for a good while, the forest quiet and serene around them until they came to a sizable cave, hidden behind an outcrop and vines. It felt very familiar and comforting to Adam and he could immediately see why Thanos had chosen this as the spot to build something.

Thanos grabbed the vines tightly and started moving them aside from the cave entrance, revealing a huge empty space and the nose of a spaceship he had shown blueprints for before. It was small and compact, possessing only what they would need for the transition to wherever they were going. Adam didn't bother to ask, he trusted Thanos with that. 

Thanos circled around the spaceship and pressed a button on his wrist computer and watched a hatch slowly open, letting them inside. Adam followed up the ramp and took in his surroundings, finding it quite familiar. The scarce furnishing was modeled after Thanos's room, very bare with only the necessities, and quite a bit of technology adorning the surfaces. Thanos was sitting in the front already, his attention directed to the control panel, fingers dancing over the surface of a hologram console he had summoned in front of him. Adam walked closer curiously and stopped right behind Thanos's chair, he placed a hand on his shoulder absentmindedly and followed the flow of information he saw, mesmerised by the low blinking lights, not understanding any of it.

“Ready?” Thanos asked simply, turning to look at the hand on his shoulder.

“Yes.”

Adam looked to the right at the empty chair beside Thanos but decided against it and circled to stand in front of Thanos, who looked up at him with a neutral expression. Without a word Adam turned around and sat down on the chair between Thanos' legs and leaned back against his chest.

It was a tight fit, the chair was definitely not designed for two people and Thanos had to scoot back to make more room for Adam. 

“This is hardly comfortable,” Thanos remarked dryly. Adam only hummed in reply and closed his eyes. 

There was a moment of silence and then he felt Thanos move behind him and soon after the ship purred to life. Adam felt the rumble of the engines in his chest and turned his head slightly to rest his ear against Thanos's chest.

He listened to Thanos's calm heartbeat as it mixed with the sounds of the stars calling to him.

**Author's Note:**

> I love the idea of Thanos and Adam meeting when they were still kids and then growing up together. Maybe they wouldn't turn out to be such messes if they had each other to balance everything out.


End file.
